Africa Penalver in ‘Todo Queda En Casa’ by Txema Yeste for Vogue España, July 2020

Africa Penalver finds her heart at home in ‘Todo Queda En Casa’ by Txema Yeste for Vogue España, July 2020. Finding beauty in the banal. This story aims to export the idea of boring, by viewing the, so called, ordinary aspects of human life through an abstract lens. Reexamination requires that we not only look from a new view, but that we see things through a new hue. Things that bring us to a place of pure potential. Like the shadowed shoreline she walks alone, we watch this mystic traveler rediscover this place she calls home. A poet a princess a fairy a queen, open your mind to this visual dream. To perceive we must be ready to conceive, for it is only then that we can truly believe. Africa embarks on a mindful journey of discovery, helping us to rediscover the concept of change.

To be still is a virtue, to be stagnant is a shame. Being still is a state of being real. The abstract notion that nothing stays the same is artfully challenged in this exquisite editorial. There’s an aire of mystery amidst while adjusting to the sentiment shift. Change is mystic traveler. Ever moving ever progressing. It is the art of evolution that keeps the wheels turning. Freedom is often found, not in the center of the story, but in the surround. To act overt is common. To over-conceptualize is counter-productive. To find that center space where the body can relax and the mind can be erased. Coming together to form a perfect union. A place where the forces of humanity work in concert to create a place of poetic intent. That exquisite level of alertness allows this mix to soar. I’m not looking for the nexus of neutrality, I’m seeking a higher level of sentience. I’m seeking a kind of mental Nirvana.

Marta Bajo takes us on a scenic journey of soulful change. A journey of discovery. Asking that we take part in this journey of discovery. Stretch our limits. Seek our destiny. Tell our truth as we bare our soul. For it’s there, in the furthest reaches of the mind, that we find a place to be free. Of feeble yearnings yell out to be, of further leanings we long yet to see. Stop in the name of pain. Stop the hurting. Stop the insane. We’re not made to play this insipid game. We’re first a caring people. Built to endure the discomfort, we rise to compromise. A healing heart is an open heart. Healing doesn’t just happen we have to first honor the hurt and then extend our hand out to heal. Artistry mimics life and all it’s folly. This is a story of strength, sadness and everything in-between. A tale of triumph when fear is all we see.

Freedom is found when we connect with the ground. We are the land the land is we… the universe of one in harmony. There’s a visceral feel to Yeste’s work. His remarkable ability to focus in on the picture behind the painting, on the truth beyond the tale. He has the uncanny ability to bring us close yet keep us at bay. He invites a kind of humanity that exists outside the lines. Nothing is as it seems, yet all is just as he would deem it to be. Abstract imagery projects a sense of symbolic reckoning, depicted in tragedy and triumph. The scenery is devoured as each shot deigns to deliver a mutiny of meaning. We can snuggle in the bosom of banality or we can swim into the artful unknown. Through the clouded ways of these newborn days brings a breath of new borne life. Txema Yeste and Marta Bajo come together to deliver a delicious piece that plays to our times.

Softness speaks in whispers

the boisterous sings in rhyme

‘Todo Queda En Casa’

says my heart is my home in time

we are the land the land is we

the universe of one in harmony

poetic prose – tanyajo